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tv   Janet Jackson  BBC News  July 27, 2024 1:30pm-2:01pm BST

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as a humanitarian zone. the army says it was in response to rocket fire. and rain and cooler temperatures bring some relief for firefighters battling wildfires in the canadian town of jasper. but officials say it's still too dangerous for evacuated people to return. now on bbc news — the interview: janet jackson. four, three, two, one! janet jackson never intended to be famous. # it's all for you...# shejust happened to be born into one of the most musically successful families of all time. i started when i was seven. i don't ever remember being asked. # what have you done for me lately...# the youngest sister of the world—famous jackson 5, she carved out her own unique space in pop and r&b. albums like control and rhythm natio helped her sell more than 100 million records worldwide.
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# we are a part of the rhythm nation...# her career has had its ups and downs but she is currently in the middle of the most successful tour of her life. everybody jump! and we caught up with janet backstage in new york... i don't do a lot of interviews. ..to take an exclusive look at her life in the spotlight. five, four, three, two, one. janet jackson, how are you? i'm well, thank you. we're a little bit tired, but we're well. cos you've performed a lot this week like, this is, i think — i counted this up — show 73. i have no idea. i just know that we just came off of three in a row, but two of those three in a rows, they were outdoor venues and it was very hot, very humid. # that's the way love goes...#
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how do you stay cool? like, do you have somebody backstage with a wet towel... he laughs. ..waiting for you? ice in a ziploc bag for my neck. and then they put a fan backstage right off the stage where i normally stand. # 0h, sugar don't you hurry...# when you've been on the road for that long doing the same show, how do you keep it fresh and interesting for yourself? like, do you have little in—jokes with the dancers or moments in the show that you look forward to? of course, those are my favourite parts. i've really noticed that — the relationship you have with the dancers and the band. you've been posting videos online of you going bowling... i'm a voyeur. i like watching. ..and at cook—outs. yeah. that's quite... the crew. yeah. that's a really important thing for the show, i guess. how do you foster that relationship with people? i've never played it. oh, you never? ever in my life.
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i think it's important. i think that relationship, how you get along, it exudes... i mean, it shows itself onstage — the camaraderie, the closeness, the bond that you have, onstage... ..offstage, it shows onstage. and i'm thankful that with every tour that i've done, it's been a wonderful group, and some of them have been with me for a really long time, very long time. so it's nice. and i love being withjust the boys cos i feel really at home. growing up, i was always with my brothers, way more than my sisters. so, ifeel very, very, very at home. but you're still the boss, right? that's what they say. they laugh. # i miss you much. # boy—oh—i miss you much. # i really miss you much. # m—i—s—s you much...# throughout your career,
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you've always danced in flat shoes. you never dance in heels. why is that? i feel more in control of my body, my movement. i grew up a tomboy, so i'm used to having sneakers and flats and i was never the girl to wear heels. hi, janet. hey. erm, did anyone teach you how to dance, or did you learn yourself? no, i...i taught myself. you didn't have formal lessons? no, ididn�*t. why didn't i? yes. she sighs. well, mother tried when i was very little putting me in ballet. and, i mean, i've got a booty. so, she would say that i'm not tucking my butt enough, and she hit me — i was young, i was little. and so mother took me out. and then, years later, when i was... i think i was around 14 because i was doing diff�*rent strokes at the time, she put me into a private class. i tried it again. it was once again short—lived.
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i was about to shoot an episode of diff�* rent strokes, and i remember telling my instructor that, my teacher, and he got a little too close to me, and i felt very, very uncomfortable. and i remember coming out of the class and telling my mother, telling mother, and she said, "that's it. you're not going back." and i never...i never wanted to take...again after that. so, i...i never really studied. but it's great that she protected you, in both of those situations. well, yeah, she's mother. she's my mother. she's a... i mean, ifeel she's supposed to, and she did, and, i mean, rightfully so. and i didn't go back, i didn't feel comfortable. so... but we always danced at home. so, i pretty much watched a lot of different dancers�* work on television and films, and that's where i learned. ok, thanks very much for your question. - i know on monday, you were down at the disco mix championships i at the albert hall, weren't you? yes. who did you watch? what did you study? oh, it was musicals.
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cyd charisse i loved. well, you danced with cyd charisse in the alright video. yeah, idid. music: alright. i did the nicholas brothers, and i danced with them when i was eight years old as well. a lot of these people i met when i was a kid, too. and so, it was a... what a childhood, really. # that's when we get to it. # close our eyes, feel our way through it. # i can't wait to groove ya. # cos you sure know how to move it. # you've made love to my mind...# but when you were a child, you didn't want to be a singer or a dancer or even an actress, i think. you wanted to be a horse racing jockey. where did that ambition come from? i fell in love with horses. i started riding when i was five. man, and the horses were...
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my brothers took me horse riding. the horses were dirty and i rubbed my eyes, and i came home, i had welts all over me. so, i thought i was allergic to horses, but it never stopped me from going. do you still ride now? it's been so long since i've ridden, and i keep telling myself i'm going to get back into it. i still have a love for it. # and why two plus makes four now, now, now...# so, was there a moment then when you went, "i want to make music," or was itjust, kind of, this is the family business and you're expected to? well, i don't... i started when i was seven. i don't ever remember being asked. ijust remember doing it. and whoever thought it was a great idea, i can't imagine what made them think it was a great idea cos i was really, really shy as a kid. but...i opened up when i got onstage. as far as making music, we had a studio at home growing up, and whatever time of night,
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day, couldn't sleep at night, you'd go in the studio and you'd just create music, put something down if you had an idea. i had written my first song when i was nine years old. it was called fantasy. oh, my god. yeah. oh, my god! do you still remember it? can you sing it? no, i don't. mark laughs. # dee—dee—da—dee—da, dee—dee—da—dee—da # dee—dee—da—dee—da. # fantasy. ..# something like that. that's good! something like that. that's all i remember of it. i laid down the drum track. i did the backgrounds, i played everything on it, and i sang on it. came home from school and i hear the song that i had just put down being played. i was so embarrassed. i was so embarrassed cos a few of my brothers were listening. mike was listening to it, i think randy was listening to it, my father was listening to it. and then my father said, "you're going to sing." right. and i said, "no, no, no,
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idon�*t want to sing. i want to go to the college and study business law." and he said no. and when your dad decided something, you couldn't deny him, right? it's kind of hard cos he... i mean, look at where he led my brothers, you know? so, isaid, "ok, i'll give ita go." # dream street, dream street. # will it all come true? # will it alljust fade away?# and you did two albums. i mean, they actually sold, like by today's standards, they sold a couple of hundred thousand copies, which people would be very covetous of now, right? but back then, i guess they weren't seen as heading in the right direction. and you essentially took control of your career. that's where the name of your third album comes from. yeah. i said, "ok, i'm going to give this thing one more chance. "if this doesn't work this time, i'm..." business law it is. yeah. they laugh. this is a story about control. my control.
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control of what i say and control of what i do. and this time, i'm going to do it my way. i hope you enjoy this as much as i do. are we ready? and that's when you went to minneapolis? yes. i said i was going to try this one more time. i went with a friend, and, um... i had knownjimmy and terry from doing different award shows. this isjimmyjam and terry lewis, who you've co—written most of your hits with. yeah. and they were asked if they could work with anybody on the roster of a&m, who would it be? and they both said me. and quite honestly, i don't think anybody cared we were making a record. the good part of it was we were totally left alone. there was no, you know, people going, "oh, you should do this," or input. we just were kind of working in a nice little
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vacuum, which was great. # when i was 17, i did what people told me. # did what my father said and let my mother mould me. # but that was long ago. # i'm in... control...# is the story of that album that they kind of interrogated you on what was going on in your life, and then helped you draw out the lyrics from those experiences? yeah, they did. i mean, they asked me about everything and i opened up to them. i enjoyed their company. # i've got my own mind. # want to make my own decisions. # when it has to do with my life. # i'm gonna be the one who's in control...# didn't they get you drunk on ice cream? oh, yeah! they laugh. there was an ice cream called rum something, and i didn't know that... i didn't know that it had real rum
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in it cos i really didn't drink. so, did that ice cream help some of the lyrics come out? were you more forthcoming? um, in telling my story... yeah. ..with them, yes. and probably, ifelt a little woozy in the head. i wasn't like an... ..idiot, i should say, tripping and stumbling over myself. but, yeah, it did. and i enjoyed their company. i mean, they made me feel very relaxed. and in those recording sessions, you've come up with a line that stuck with you through your whole career. # no, my first name ain't baby. # it's janet, miss jackson, if you're nasty...# "my first name ain't baby. it's janet. "miss jackson if. yeah. tell me about that moment, cos you must have known when that came out — this is gold. what you doing after the movie? stop! what? they gasp. give me a beat!
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you know, obviously, you want to create something that would speak to the people, but it was just about going in and doing something that was fun and that you loved and... ..and wanted to listen to yourself. that whole nasty that i... i had moved from one hotel to another hotel, i think, downtown, and instead of driving there, cos it was a few blocks, we walked, and these guys started harassing my friend and i. and i was really, really bothered and really upset, so that's how the whole song nasty came about. # huh! will this one do? # uh—huh, i know, sing. # nasty, nasty boys. # don't mean a thing... and that whole album is about being assertive and standing up for yourself.
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was that something you were experiencing, i guess, coming into your 20s? the album, i think it came out when i was 19 or 18? something, somewhere around there. coming into my own, becoming an adult, the challenges. just the difficulty it may have, it can be, at times. # what have you done for me lately? # ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah...# i think it's a difficult thing in this industry, to be — particularly in the �*80s — an assertive woman. # ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah...# what were the barriers you came up against? oh, god. in the industry, really, more so than anything. being told no — more than once. different times. saying why? because you're. .. you know, you're... "you're a girl — you can't do that. girls don't do that." what sort of thing? you know, i can't even... honestly, i put it out of my head. i really did. um, but being told that you can't do that, you know, "that's something that guys do. girls don't do that." and it's like, "well, why not?" it's like, well, somebody�*s gotta. well, what's wrong with trying it?
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let's just try it and see. see what happens. but, eventually, you stick in there long enough, you find a way to get your way. echo voice deepens: five. four. three. two. one. music starts. rhythm nation was the album that followed control and on that, lyrically, you take another kind of left—hand turn. you're talking about social injustice, about the education system. there's a song there that talks about school shootings, and there's a hope within that recor that things will improve. do you think, looking back now, are you discouraged that we're still talking about the same issues? it's crazy, isn't it? it's...it's sad. and evenjust thinking about a lyric in scream. # oh, my god, can't believe what i saw. # as i turned on the tv this evening.
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# i was disgusted by all the injustice. by all the injustice.# and it's, it's... it's still today. isn't it? i mean, there are messages right away. can you tell me about that? uh, it's... we're... we're talking about drugs, homeless, about the children being the future. and by them being the future, the kids of today are going to have to suffer tomorrow if we don't try to change. join together and try to change. it's sad that we're... we're still going through a lot that we're. .. ..that we are going through. have we made some strides? yeah, i think we definitely have. but there's still so much further to go. cut! 0k. janet laughs. beeping. # m-i-s-s, m-i-s-s...# you were the first woman to be nominated for producer of the year at the grammys with that album, which is another kind of big stride that you think should've happened 20, 30 years before.
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a long time ago, right? a long time ago. like i said, there's so much more we need to do in so many different areas, but yet, you know, baby steps. we'll get there. you still have that hope? of course. you have to. # that's the way love goes. # like a moth to a flame burned by the fire. # that's the way, that's the way. # that's the way love goes. # my love is blind can't you see my desire? # that's the way, that's the way. # that's the way love goes.# after rhythm nation, you go to the janet era, which is a much more sensual, softer side of you. was that something that you found difficult to express in public? because i guess you go from let's wait awhile, which is a chastity anthem... # let's take it slow. # when we get to...# i remember a journalist back then asking me,
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"well, what happened? you said, let's wait awhile." and i said, "i'm 27. how long do you want me to wait?" and, i mean, that's... that's what i meant at the time. # ooh... # that's the way love goes. that's the way love goes... and i was coming into my own in a different way and growing up, even more so, and always speaking about, writing about what was going on in my life at that moment, so that's what that album was about. and, you know, really trying to work on myself, trying to get over some of these insecurities of... ..of, you know... ..being so self—conscious of how i look, my body and things like that. that's a whole �*nother story. they laugh. you said earlier that you did hear "no" a lot from the record industry, and i wondered if those songs where you are being more sexually explicit, was one of those times
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when you got pushed back because prince and rickjames had done that in r&b, but not a female r&b artist. one of the songs that when you talk about them saying no to was together again. # there are times when i look above and beyond. # there are times when i feel your love around me, baby...# i think it was because of the era of aids and all that was surrounding it. but, you know, i had lost a lot of friends and a lot of people that i knew to it and h wanted to... ..to write. it was heavily on my mind. i wrote — i actually wrote that here in new york! # everywhere i go, every smile i see. # i know you are there smiling back at me. # dancing in moonlight i know you are free.
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# cos i can see your star shining down on me...# so, i used to sleep with a tape recorder next to my bed all the time, just to put melodies down that i might dream, or a riff of something, and then go back to sleep. at least i had it. but i think it was into a tape recorder for together again. and it has a real new york feel, that song. that house. yeah, that house club music. # dream about us together again. # what i want — us togetheragain, baby. # i know we'll be together again cos...# let me just quickly ask you about your acting career because is it true that in your very first audition for good times, you had to cry on demand? yeah. and you've always chosen roles that are quite difficult. like, you're not doing light, fluffy stuff. penny in good times was a victim of domestic abuse, similar story for your character in why did i get married too? what draws you to those roles? i don't know. there's something about it
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thatjust speaks to me, the depth of it and the... i mean, the sadness of this child and what she's going through, which no child — no child — should ever go through, should ever experience. you want me crazy?! wait, wait, wait... i'll show you crazy! wait, patricia! come on! i'll show you! i'll give you crazy! waita minute... what are you...? patricia, wait... and then with "why did i get married?" and what she was dealing with in her relationship. god knows i've... how many times have i been married now? janet laughs. three times, i think. what would you say? experience in that area is as well for me with "why did i get married?" for sure. # look around. # we're made for now, not tomorrow. # made for now...# even though if i were to do another film, i would love to do something a little bit more up. honestly, an action film, to be quite honest. yeah. and i told my father i would,
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the next film that i would do would be an action film. i promised him that. have you been approached by any of the superhero franchises? oh, my god. when i was getting ready to do the janet tour, i was actually...we were already in. bryan singer came to me cos he wanted me to play storm, but i couldn't, and that... ..that was the character that i used to collect flash cards, so i loved storm. unfortunately, i couldn't cos i had already committed to the janet tour. # i gotta get someone to call my lover. # yeah, baby, come on. # all right, baby, come and pass my way. # i've got to get someone to call my lover...# tell me a bit about being a mum. youi’ son is seven now. how is that? seven and a half. the most beautiful thing. i'm so thankful god allowed me to... ..to have this experience, this journey in my life. and i love every single minute of it.
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crowd screams. # b—bass, b—bass. # bass b—b—b—bass. .. # b—bass...# so, the tour is coming to europe and you still do some of the dance routines from those old videos. do people in the audience do them back at you? are you kidding me? yes! music plays. i see them doing miss you much. i see them doing a lot of stuff, and also dressed like me. they'll have their own "if" outfit made up or scream or together again. yeah. i can only do the one, which is just the countdown. the rhythm nation? yeah. that one, too. shall we do it together? yeah. go on. five. four. three. two. one. music: rhythm nation. and you sing scream every night. that must be very emotional, to celebrate your brother in that way. yeah, yeah. you know, it's listening
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to him, every night, sing and remembering us — once again, in new york. mike and i wrote that song in his apartment in new york. um... and then we recorded it in the studio in minneapolis. but that whole journey and going back to that time and then listening to him sing it and listening to him sing it when we were working on it and the emotion and what he was going through at that time and just me being his little sister, always being by his side and being that support system. you know what i mean? and that's. .. that's always been my role. # oh, oh, oh, oh... and last question. this set list spans five decades of music. what do you learn about your career and what you've given to music by putting a set list like that together? um, what have i learned about my career?
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i'm just thankful. i'm thankful that god has allowed me to do this for as long as i have, that people are still interested in seeing me do this, that i'm still able to do this. um... i'm just very thankful. she laughs. # it's all for you. # if you really want it. # it's all for you. # if you say you need it... thank you so much for all of your time. it's been really enlightening and fascinating to hear all of those stories. well, thank you. enjoy the show tonight. i hope you do. i'm going to. you have to let me know what you think. i will. will i see you after? if you'll have me. yeah, maybe we could take another picture. that'll be great. 0k. yeah.
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hello. the sunshine�*s a little hit and miss today. it was really quite sunny earlier on, but a weather front is approaching if it hasn't reached you already. and that does mean a rather overcast afternoon and some outbreaks of rain. most of them shouldn't last very long, should be quite fleeting. now, here's the satellite picture and the radar — where you see the blobs of blue, that's where it's been raining. notice quite a few showers there across parts of northern england, especially the lake district and into southern scotland as well. but they are showers, so they don't last for very long. and that does mean that for most of us it should be a dry day. the best of the sunshine, i think along the south coast of england and actually come the afternoon it should brighten up in the west as well. temperatures fairly modest — 22 or 23 in the south east, mostly the high teens elsewhere.
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now, this evening and overnight, those clouds will melt away and we'll have a clear night, a bit of mist and fog forming by the early hours of sunday, and the temperatures first thing hovering around the mid—teens in the south east of england, about ten or so in the lowlands of scotland. and actually, tomorrow promises to be a sunny day right from the word go. just a little bit of cloud developing through the course of the morning into the afternoon. skies, a little on the hazy side, i think, across northern ireland and scotland, but it's a dry day. it's a little warmer too, temperatures widely into the 20s. you really will notice that tomorrow. and also the humidity will be rising, notjust tomorrow, but gradually over the coming days. now, here's monday's weather map. you can see a big area of high pressure there in charge of the weather across europe. a weather front does try to sweep into northwestern parts of the uk, but it's very slow moving. it really is struggling against the high pressure centred over germany. and actually what is happening, a warmer atmosphere is streaming in from the south, so temperatures will continue to rise through monday and into tuesday.
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in fact, if we look at monday's highs — widely into the mid 20s, pushing 28 celsius in the southeast, and that heat will keep on intensifying into tuesday, in fact, streaming out of spain across france. could be some thunderstorms with that as well. but in paris, temperatures could actually hit the mid 30s. here in the uk, in london we will probably reach 30 celsius, but for most of us further north it won't be quite so hot, but it will be very pleasant. bye— bye.
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live from london. this is bbc news an israeli strike on a school where displaced palestinians were taking shelter has killed at least 30 people, according to gaza's health ministry. israel says hamas were operating inside. it comes as the israeli military orders an evacuation for southern areas of khan younis, previously designated as a humanitarian zone. the army says it was in response to rocket fire. in canada, rain and cooler temperatures bring some relief for firefighters battling wildfires
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in the town of jasper. i'm maryam moshiri, with the first full day of the olympics after the opening ceremony. china wins the first gold of the olympics in the 10m mixed team air rifle event while team gb bags bronze in women's synchronised 3m springboard. meanwhile, the french authorities say rail travel is likely to remain disrupted throughout the day after sabotage attacks on the network yesterday. hello, welcome to this hour. we begin in the middle east, where gaza's health ministry says at least 30 people have been killed in an israeli strike on a school which was sheltering displaced people.
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israeli missiles hit the khadija school compound in deir

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